How to Fix a Broken Pressed Powder Makeup

BROKEN TO NEW

Receiving a pressed powdered product in the mail and seeing that it is broken is quite frustrating and heartbreaking. I received this HD Brows Blusher 2 in the post today and it was broken, more like shattered as pictured above. Devastated but then realise that I can fix it so it was “new” again. So here is a tutorial on fixing any pressed powdered makeup product (eyeshadow, bronzer, highlighter, powder etc) back to its original state. This technique can also be used to create a pressed eyeshadow from a loose pigment.

Tools needed:
Surgical spirit (can be bought in pharmacies and it’s cheap, also known as rubbing alcohol outside of the UK.)
Stick (nail cuticle pusher, end of tweezers, end of a cutlery or brush etc. Anything.)
Tissue or fabric
Coin (optional)

1. Use the stick to carefully break up the pressed powder, breaking up the large bits into smaller bits so it will be able to stick together more easily.

2. Pour in the surgical spirit. You can use a pipette, spoon, the cap of the bottle or pour it straight out of the bottle. Pour enough so that every little bit in the pan is saturated then mix it with the stick. It will become a paste like texture. Add more spirit if it isn’t. In this example, I used 2 caps full as the pan is slightly smaller than the palm of my hands. Then leave it to dry. The spirit will evaporate over time. It doesn’t matter if the top isn’t as flat as you wanted it to be.

3. Once it is nearly solidified or not as wet (after an hour or more, depending on how much spirit you added), put the tissue or fabric on top of the pan and press it around with your fingers or a coin to flatten it. Excess spirit will be absorbed. Then leave it to fully evaporate and solidify. I would recommend leaving it overnight.

You can now use it as normal! The texture and pigmentation would be the same as it was before it was shattered. I think it’s best to clean up around the pan after step two as it is very difficult to clean it once you get the spirit onto the packaging and left it to dry. Kind of ruined it. Sigh and I’ve got to review this later on.

For turning loose pigment into pressed powder, scoop the pigment into the eyeshadow pan then follow steps two and three. With this, you can create your own shade by mixing pigments together. Quite fun to experiment with.